PERFORMANCE FACULTY

Tonia Campanella, Visiting Assistant Professor, Acting/Movement
Originally from Chicago, Tonia is a movement and acting coach and teacher. She received her BFA from Niagara University in Theatre Performance and her MFA at Virginia Commonwealth University in Theatre Pedagogy with an emphasis in Movement. Tonia has worked professionally as an actress, fight director, and movement choreographer. She was recently seen as Lala in The Last Night of Ballyhoo with Carpenter Square Theatre in Oklahoma City. She has a specialty in choreographing intimacy and sexuality for the stage. Tonia teaches classes in movement for the stage and acting.

Ben Corbett, Artist-in-Residence, Acting/Voice
Ben Corbett is a Linklater voice teacher trainee, vocal coach, actor, and director who hails from Tulsa, OK. He received his BA in Drama from the University of Dallas, and an MFA in Acting from the University of Pittsburgh. Ben's professional acting credits two and a half years as a resident's vocal coach, actor, and director at Barter Theatre. Other acting credits include roles at Blowing Rock Stage Co., Burning Coal Theatre Co., Light Opera Oklahoma, Shakespeare & Co., North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Festival of Dallas, and Teatro Dallas. Additional vocal coaching credits include Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Street Theatre, Burning Coal Theatre Co, Bare Theatre, Light Opera Oklahoma, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Most recently, he spent a year as a teacher of Introduction to Theatre, Dialects for the Stage, and Public Speaking at Appalachian State University. He's also served as an adjunct at Emory and Henry College, King College, and Virginia Highlands Community College. He served as a teacher assistant at University of California-Santa Cruz and is a proud member of Actors' Equity. Ben is also the International Dialects of English Archive's Associate Editor for Oklahoma.

D. Lance Marsh, Assistant Professor of Acting, Artistic Director of TheatreOCU and Head of Performance
Lance is entering his third year as an Assistant Professor of Acting, and he recently became the Artistic Director for TheatreOCU. Before coming to OCU, Lance taught at the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Arizona, as well as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County. He holds a BFA in Theatre (Acting) from Stephens College and an MFA in Acting from UW-Madison. Lance is the Artistic Director of Summerset Theatre, an outdoor, summer theatre located in Central Wisconsin. Before becoming a teacher, Lance spent fifteen years as a professional actor, primarily performing in classical plays. He has appeared at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Western Stage, the California Shakespeare Festival, the Okoboji Summer Theatre, Next Act Theatre, First Stage Children’s Theatre, the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, the Milwaukee Shakespeare Company, the Texas Shakespeare Festival, the Arizona Repertory Theatre and was a company member for 5 years at American Players Theatre. He has directed professionally in California, Missouri, Iowa, Arizona and Wisconsin. Lance is a member of Actor's Equity Association.

Judith Palladino, Professor of Theatre & Theatre for Young Audiences
Professor Palladino, born and raised in New York City, has been acting since age nine and directing for over 25 years. She has been a featured performer in plays, musicals, commercials, and voice-overs, and has directed over 100 productions. She holds degrees in Theatre and Drama/Theatre for the Young, as well as teacher's certification in those fields. Chair of the Department of Theatre for 11 years and Program Director of Children's Theatre at OCU, Prof. Palladino also teaches acting, directing, children's theatre, creative drama, voice and diction, and the classes required for a Master of Arts in Theatre for Young Audiences. She is also in charge of the Let's Pretend Players touring company and directs main stage productions at OCU.

Dr. David Pasto, Professor of Theatre
Dr. Pasto is an actor, director, playwright, translator, and theatre historian. He has acted and directed for many theaters in Oklahoma, including Carpenter Square Theatre, Synchronicity Theatre, and Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park. His translation of a Spanish Golden Age play, The House of Trials by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, won the Franklin G. Smith Award for excellence in translation and has been published by Peter Lang Publishers. He teaches play analysis, theatre history, acting, and directing at OCU.

DESIGN AND PRODUCTION FACULTY

Billie Boston, Professor of Costume Design
Billie has been the Costume Designer at OCU since 1986, She also designed for the Yuletide Festival and Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma for eight years, and Ballet Oklahoma for eleven years. Billie's designs are know throughout the country: her costume designs for Little Shop of Horrors have been used by Oak Music Theatre in Lakewood, NJ; her designs for Mame were used by Connecticut's Broadway Theatre. Mobile Light Opera in Mobile, AL and Jupiter Theatre in Juno Beach Florida used her Carousel costume designs; she designed the Hello Dolly! Costumes used by Joanne Worley in both the Sacramento, California and Houston Tutt's theatre production of the play. Her Kiss Me Kate and Showboat costume designs found their way to the Opera House Theatre Company of Willington, North Carolina, and Phantom of the Opera costumes to Music Theatre Wichita. Billie Boston has also designed for Fort Worth's Casa Manana Theatre, Irving's Lyric Stage Theatre, Dallas' Watertower Theatre, the Pittsburgh Ballet, the Royal Flanders Ballet, Oklahoma Diamond Jubilee, BBC Children's Theatre, the Winter Olympics, and the Miss America Pageant. She has been the recipient of Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival Design Awards and is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in Entertainment.

Kathryn A. Eader, Assistant Professor of Theatre
M.F.A., New York University
B.S., University of Texas at Austin

Kathryn Eader is teaching lighting design in the department of theatre, a discipline that she previously taught as an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University. She also served as visiting head of lighting design at DePaul for two years. She is a three-time nominee for the Austin Critics Table Award for Best Lighting. Eader is originally from Alvin, Texas, and enjoys cycling, children, cooking, and opera and musical theatre.

Jason Foreman, Assistant Professor of Scenic Design, Head of Design & Production
Jason is the Resident Scenic Designer at OCU. He has also taught design and technical theatre at Rice University, Sam Houston State University and the University of New Orleans. Recent designs include Twelfth Night, The Ballad of Baby Doe, A Christmas Carol, Lend Me a Tenor, Aida, and Funny Girl. He is an active member of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and serves as the Vice Chair for Communications for USITT-SW. Jason has a BFA in Drama – Design & Technology from the University of Oklahoma, and he holds a MFA in Scenic Design from California State University, Long Beach. He has worked professionally as a designer and scenic artist for companies around the US, such as West Virginia Public Theatre, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, City Rep, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Southern Repertory Theatre and California Repertory Company.

David "Ross" Rauschkolb, Assistant Professor of Technical Direction
Ross is an Arizona native who received his BFA in theatre education and teacher's certificate from East Carolina University. He earned his MFA in Technical Direction from the University of Arizona. Ross worked as a Technical Director for Arizona Repertory Theatre and a Scenic Welder for Sonora Theatre Works. While with the Arizona Repertory Theatre, Ross assisted with the automation of Hamlet, Little Shop of Horrors, Pericles, Rocky Horror Show, She Loves Me, and Betrayal. He served as the Drama teacher for Pinecrest High School and technical director for R.E.Lee Auditorium in NC. His Direction and Fight Choreography for Cyrano De Bergerac won awards at NC Theatre Conference. He has worked professionally as a designer and technical director for High Schools and Church related performances. For the last year he worked as a project manager and draftsman for StageLight, inc. in Texas and Louisiana. He is an active member of the United State Institute for Theatre Technology, charter member of USITT U of A student chapter, and an IATSE affiliate.


Melissa L. F. Turner, Visiting Assistant Professor of Stage & Production Management, Production Manager of TheatreOCU
Melissa is a Colorado native who received her undergraduate degree in technical theatre from the University of Northern Colorado. She went on to earn an MFA in Stage Management from the Yale School of Drama. Melissa has worked professionally across the country and has had the opportunity of working in all areas of theatre including drama, musicals and opera. She has worked as a stage manager at the Yale Repertory Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, Goodspeed Musicals and Shakespeare & Company. She has had the privilege of participating in the creation of several new works including recent productions of Cuttin’ Up at The Cleveland Play House and Meet John Doe with Goodspeed Musicals. Stage management may seem, from the outside, to be a strictly structural and clerical role. However, she finds that a stage manager is an important member of the creative process and a true theatre artist. She is committed to teaching and supporting young theatre students as they make their transition into the professional theatrical community. Melissa is a proud Member of Actors Equity Association and the American Guild of Musical Artists.

ADJUNCT FACULTY

Lyn Adams
Lyn is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Children’s Theatre. She has a Diploma of Education from Deakin University in Australia as well as a BFA and MFA in Theatre/Directing from the University of Oklahoma. She has taught elementary school in Australia and has been an adjunct instructor at Oklahoma City Community College, OCU School of Dance and Arts Management and is currently an adjunct professor with the Department of Theatre. Lyn volunteers in the community with Harding Fine Arts Center, Leadership Oklahoma City, A+ Arts, OKCPSF Project Kids, Septemberfest, Classen School of Advanced Studies, Oklahoma City Arts Council, RedBud Classic Run and Rotary International Club 29. She teaches courses such as Acting I, Script Analysis and The Theatre Experience. She also directs OCT and OCU Theatre for Young Audience productions. Lyn believes her greatest challenge is to convince us that real Aussies don’t throw shrimps on the barby and that she doesn’t carry a real knife in her purse.

Elin Mac an Bhaird
Elin is a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma and has been Artistic Director for Oklahoma Children's Theatre since 1997 and an adjunct professor for OCU Department of Theatre for the past three years. Her directing credits for TheatreOCU include And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, The Outsiders, and Stage Door. Elin also appeared in TheatreOCU production of A Christmas Carol and Holes. She has an eclectic resume as an actress and director accumulated over the past 30 years. Her acting credits include Desiree in A Little Night Music at Lyric Theatre, Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire at The Pollard Theatre, Latrelle in Sordid Lives at Carpenter Square Theatre, Mistress Ford in Merry Wives of Windsor for Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park and Betty Blake in Will Rogers Follies for Jewel Box Theatre. As director her credits span from A Christmas Story at Oklahoma Children's Theatre to The Rocky Horror Show for Carpenter Square Theatre.

COSTUME SHOP STAFF

Irma Arias, Seamstress
Mrs. Arias has been working as a seamstress for OCU since 1996. Prior to working at OCU, she was a stay-at-home mom raising five daughters. She is originally from Barranquilla, Columbia in South America. She came to the United States in 1986 to marry her sweetheart, Oscar Arias. They settled in New York City where they began their family with two daughters and moved to Oklahoma City in 1976 and completed their family with three more girls. Mrs. Arias is also a proud grandmother! While living in New York, she went to cosmetology school where she earned her license as a hairdresser. She uses these hairdressing skills to create a wide variety of hairstyles for wigs used in OCU plays and operas. She has been sewing since the age of 16 and enjoys making children's clothing, particularly dresses for little girls.

SCENE SHOP STAFF

Heidi Hamilton, Master Electrician
Heidi is an Oklahoma City native and has been an active professional in Oklahoma City theatre since 1987. She currently serves as the Master Electrician for the College of Performing Arts. Heidi has also worked in every major venue in Oklahoma City as a master electrician for the IATSE Local 112. She has also installed lighting control systems in theaters throughout the nation as a factory trained field service technician for ETC.

Larry Huffman, Scenic Technician
Larry has been working as a Theatre Technician at OCU and in the Oklahoma City area since 2002. Striving to one day be a technical theatre teacher, he works with students at both OCU and Lyric Academy. Larry has held such titles as Head Carpenter, Effects Flyman and Head Flyman at Lyric Theatre. His current job duties in the OCU scene shop include welding, rigging, flying and carpentry. Larry was the Technical Director for TheatreOCU’s Valor, Outrage and Woman last semester. He is also an Instructor for the Stagecraft labs.

James A. Stuhlmiller, Technical Operations Manager
Jim has worked in the professional, regional, and educational theatre fields since 1979. His experiences range from technical director and lighting design at the Perot Theatre to filling a variety of technical roles for Lyric Theatre, to serving as a technical director and master scenic artist. Jim also supports the performance programs at OCU as a scene designer, lighting designer, and sound designer, while serving as a full time staff member.

Stephanie Stone, Scenic Technician
Jessica Vance, Scenic Technician

ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM

Benita Jose-Mathew, Theatre Operations & Finance Manager
Cathy Cesar, Student Services & Marketing Coordinator

Contact admintheater@okcu.edu for further information.